Archive for the ‘Monster Book of Monsters’ Tag

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has always been my favorite. I’ve been looking forward to this since Pottermore opened.

Unfortunately, Pottermore did not live up to my expectations.

Let me first cite the good points. In terms of graphics and animations, this book is even better. The visualization of the scenes were great. I love the scene where we banish the boggart. On my first try, it was a mummy and when I returned for a second run, it was a giant spider. I suppose it changes every time. I also liked the scene with the Knight Bus where you have to catch the galleons as it tilts from left to right.. Though, there’s still a room for improvement there.

Now, let’s get to the bad points. First, there were very few moments in each chapter and there’s hardly anything to do. There is almost no interaction except during the part where you banish the boggart (which was cool!). There is also hardly anything to pick up or collect. I only managed to earn a total of 16 house points. Now, I’m not sure if that is the same for everyone. There is a possibility I may have missed on an item or two.

There were five new information to uncover – Aunt Marge, The Knight Bus, Professor Kettleburn, Sir Cadogan and Boggart. These new information were a treat but honestly, there’s not really much to learn about them.

In short, in terms of content, I wasn’t really satisfied. I find myself going back through the chapters hoping I missed something but unfortunately, that was all there was to it.

Things I hoped they could have done:
* Access to Knockturn Alley – actually I was hoping this was opened back in Chamber of Secrets when Harry accidentally ended up there when he travelled to Diagon Alley using Floo Powder
* Opened the Florean Fortesque Ice Cream Parlour – because that’s where Harry did his homework
* An interactive scene when Harry blew up his aunt
* Harry’s room in The Leaky Cauldron during his stay
* More items to collect besides Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Bean
* An interactive game with the Monster Book of Monsters
* An interaction with the Hippogriff or with Harry flying Buckbeak
* New spells and potions
* More valuable content or new information – though I suppose this is J.K. Rowling’s call

These are just a few, I suppose. But they would have made a difference.

Still, there are more chapters coming and I’m still keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe somewhere out there is a redeeming chapter. They better not blotch my favorite scenes with the time turner.